Mary Isabella (McPherson) Arkell (1889 - 1979)

Born 8 Sep 1889 in Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada

Wife of Frederick Arkell — married 25 Mar 1912 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Descendants

Died 25 Oct 1979 at age 90 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Biography

Mary McPherson was born in 1889, near Guelph, Ontario, a second generation Canadian. Her parents were Alexander McPherson and Margaret Wilkinson.^[1]Her paternal grandfather came from Scotland c.1838 as a young man with his father (Donald 'Dhu' McPherson) and siblings to clear wilderness and settle in Crieff, just south of modern Guelph.

Mary and her older brother were born and raised in the same area. She married Fred Arkell (from another pioneering family nearby) in March 1912,^[2] and they immediately left Ontario to head west. She stopped in Saskatchewan to visit for several weeks with cousins while her new husband went on to Alberta to buy land in Edmonton. (This visit was likely intended, but was it extended when she realized she was in early days of a pregnancy? Ie staying in the comforts of an established home seemed practical vs the unknown of Edmonton housing which was very tight at the time? A mystery!)

Mary arrived in Edmonton (a few months later - date unknown) in time for the birth of their first daughter in December. This child died six years later in February 1919 from the world wide Spanish Flu epidemic. Mary and Fred successfully raised two more daughters and lived comfortably in Edmonton but always stayed in touch with their Ontario ties through letters and occasional visits.^[3]

Mary was widowed in 1949. She died after a short illness in 1979 and is buried with husband and daughters at Farnham Cemetery on Arkell Road in Ontario. Her middle name was Isabella (headstone) but shows up as Isabelle on her marriage certificate.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ "Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KS86-Q7C : 10 April 2015), Frederick Arkell and Mary Isabel Mcpherson, 25 Mar 1912; citing registration , Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,906,770.
2. ↑ "Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KS86-Q7C : 10 April 2015), Frederick Arkell and Mary Isabel Mcpherson, 25 Mar 1912; citing registration , Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,906,770.
3. ↑ "Canada Census, 1916," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KM5V-K5T : 3 April 2016), Mary Arkell in household of Fred Arkell, Alberta, Canada; citing p. 12, line 13; Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm 2,434,965.
4. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK18-7J53 : 11 July 2016), Mary Isabella McPherson Arkell, ; Burial, Farnham, Wellington, Ontario, Canada, Farnham Cemetery; citing record ID 138428501, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

See also:

• Notes and records made by her daughters re their family's histories.
• Headstone for Fred and Mary Arkell at Farnham Cemetery (Guelph, Ontario, Canada). Personally photographed by [Patricia White] on 18 Ap 2015.